Numerology

I hadn't actually occured to me what Jon Waltenbury was wearing for the games until I was uploading the pictures - better late then never - from Spring Training. So, I had to ask...

"You wearing that number because of Morneau?" He allows that he is repping Justin a bit.

"That's Rainy's old shirt," I tell him.

"Oh, I'll take good care of it," he says. Yeah, sure he will.

"He's wearing number 38 with the Miracle," I continue. "He thinks he's Curt Schilling."

"He looks like Schilling," Walt notes. Yeah well...

In sitting on the bench with the shaggers and in talking to Nelson Prada, I had made the comment that I like the GCL because I don't have to pay money to watch them. Unlike the Miracle.

Mike Rogers says he can believe that none of the guys leaves me free tickets. Right. Let's see if he leaves me free tickets when he get to the Miracle. Bet I'll still be paying for my season tickets like everyone else.

It is very annoying to have plunked down the money, only to watch them suck the way they have. I don't care if they win every game, they don't have to be championship callibere, but they should at least be competative. And when the team is getting 3 hits a night, that's hardly competative.

Most of the discussion involved how to feed 70 guys on $500 (the annual break camp dinner). If they go to Smokey Bones, which I think is where they went last year, it's over $900.

Nelson was exhonarating them to be good at all the levels they play at...you have to be good to get to E-Town, you have to be good to get to Beloit, you have to be good to get to Fort Myers...

To which I said "No, you just have to suck to get on the Miracle" which sent the GCL bench into a fit of laugher. They are all well aware of how bad the Fort Myers squad is this year. Yet these are guys that won a championship in E-Town and made the play offs in Beloit?

"Can't do anything with those guys," Marzan tells me. More like we can't do anything with that coach we've got.

Yes, he took us to a half-season championship last year, but I also remember him flip-flopping Winfree between 1st and 3rd and how we won when Winfree played at 3rd and lost when he played at 1st. We needed both Brock's and David's bats in the line up to win. But suddenly, they needed to rest Brock...every other game? Yeah, that made a lot of sense to me at the time.

Well, there's really nothing anyone can do. It's not like they are going to get rid of Boles half way through the season. It just breaks my heart though to watch guys like Eli Tintor and Matt Betsill struggle, when I know they are better players than what we've seen out of them. Something's going on there, and no, it's not the guys.

Anyway, a bit of Mr. Walterbury from Saturday...